A Nation of Shopkeepers was an interesting look into how the current class structure, and how class affects all of us. It's a bit dry at times, but overall it held my interest, despite being a fairly academic topic.

A Nation of Shopkeepers is a book exploring the history and present of the petite bourgeoisie, particularly in Britain. Evans looks at the complicated class structure of modern Britain, how education and housing play a part in class, and considers the impact of individualism upon politics and the left. The conclusion offers suggestions for how the petite bourgeoisie, which Evans positions as vital in modern Britain, could come together with the working class to actually make a difference.

There's a lot of interesting content in the book, particularly around the divide between old and new petite bourgeoisie and how these differences manifest in terms of politics, ideas, and living reality. The charting of the history of education and housing in Britain and how this has been impacted by and influences politics and class gives a good framework for seeing some of the structural elements that create and maintain the petite bourgeoisie and gives a good background for what has gone before. The book provides some frameworks for thinking about class in modern Britain in new ways and seeing beyond prejudices on various sides to consider where it came from and what impact it has.

There are quite a lot of references to left Twitter, which if you're not someone who is part of it or sees those posts, can feel like Evans is arguing against a broad generalisation (I learnt what the Deano meme is, at least). In particular, there's a few throwaway complains about identity politics and intersectionality being too individualist, but it feels like if this is a reason to not consider the impact on intersectionality, whether as it applies to individual people or broader groups, then it could've been expanded to actually argue a point about "identity politics" rather than use it as a vague complaint against some parts of the left new petite bourgeoisie. Maybe this is something seen as already debated on left Twitter or elsewhere, but as I haven't read many similar books or engaged with many debates on left Twitter, to me it felt like ignoring other factors that impact the modern impressions of not only class itself, but also the key areas covered in the book like education, housing, and social mobility.

A Nation of Shopkeepers offers a new framework for thinking about class in modern Britain and there's a lot of interesting things to think about in terms of the present and future of socialism and trade unions, but also around specific areas like home ownership and precarious work. However, as is often true with political and sociological topics, some of its analysis didn't work for me and at times it felt a bit repetitive whilst barely covering other things it mentioned.